> "The human mind: Six hundred miles of synaptic fiber, five and a half ounces of cranial fluid, fifteen hundred grams of complex neural matter... A three pound pile of dreams."
> "...But I'll tell you what it really is. It is the ultimate battlefield--and, the ultimate weapon. The wars of this modern age--The Psychic Age-- are all fought somewhere between these damp, ... curvaceous undulations."
I don't know what the book describes, but I'd like to hear more specifics. Until then, I'm going to assume that it's sensationalist hogwash.
> The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition, induce compliance, or even in the future turn people into unwitting agents.
Disrupting cognition is easy. But as far as I'm aware, we don't have any drugs to "induce compliance" and we're miles away from being able to turn people into "unwitting agents" purely on the basis of neuroscience.
Combine a chemically impaired memory and the current media landscape to get neat little dystopia.
We already could have unknowingly produced and consumed such neuro modulators simply by selecting for consumer return. Frightening thought, because it fits the current reality timeline.
> the brain itself could become a battlefield
That echoes me of one of my favorite games, and I think the intro is funny enough to be worth sharing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TpVWggFz_D4
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For those who dislike video:
> "The human mind: Six hundred miles of synaptic fiber, five and a half ounces of cranial fluid, fifteen hundred grams of complex neural matter... A three pound pile of dreams."
> "...But I'll tell you what it really is. It is the ultimate battlefield--and, the ultimate weapon. The wars of this modern age--The Psychic Age-- are all fought somewhere between these damp, ... curvaceous undulations."
-- Coach Oleander, Paychonauts
I don't know what the book describes, but I'd like to hear more specifics. Until then, I'm going to assume that it's sensationalist hogwash.
> The same knowledge that helps us treat neurological disorders could be used to disrupt cognition, induce compliance, or even in the future turn people into unwitting agents.
Disrupting cognition is easy. But as far as I'm aware, we don't have any drugs to "induce compliance" and we're miles away from being able to turn people into "unwitting agents" purely on the basis of neuroscience.
Combine a chemically impaired memory and the current media landscape to get neat little dystopia.
We already could have unknowingly produced and consumed such neuro modulators simply by selecting for consumer return. Frightening thought, because it fits the current reality timeline.
Looking around. I don't know what feels worse; a drug that induced compliance or world is in general this stupid.
If I've learned anything about human nature, its that we will regulate ourselves after the event and not before.
"We are entering an era where the brain itself could become a battlefield"
I think we entered that era, um, prior to recorded history. Not so much just now.
+1 for being the first one aware of reality.
It was amusing reading about chemicals and what not for something that has been done like forever, long before chemistry or neurology existed.
Technology has now far outpaced mankind's ability to wield it safely. The Unabomber was right it appears.